reforms have slowed down. from 2005 to 2008, at 9.5% per an number. crisis ite financial kept up pretty well, then the dropped down. it there was also a slowdown in was an imminent election, there were corruption scandals breaking which was the mood in the country. there was a lot of ordinarily upset abouty very this. so with the election there's comes a burst of expectation. you look at the details on things like that, we do expect that there will be some reforms will come in and now they don't have to think of the next election for another five years. so i actually expect giving that ofple of the fundamentals the income, like the savings rate and investment rate, india now saves the way countries used

to do when they were growing very past. direction,rms get in halfnk within a year and a the -- >> you think in the past few a realave been disappointment. by any global standards, since the whole world has slowed down, as bad and in fact i kept saying in india, all the televisionwas on one interview someone said what's happening to the country, it's going to the dogs with india growing at 6%. changes in yard stick. here's the great hope for india, treated as real disastrous for the economy.

>> i'd like to ask you both to austerityto the debate. earlier this month in the u.k., apologized torde george ozbourne for criticizing u.k.'s austerity cuts and saying the i.m.f. had gone too faf. with a lesson should we take from this? is the u.k. going to emerge as a for austerity cuts? and i'd love your thoughts about well. as >> on balance i feel that the management, given in the world has changed over the last seven or eight years, tough at fiscal numbers, europe, the rich countries look much emerging countries. that being so, fiscal austerity something that they would have to go for. the question is a design, and i think most of the debate on the,

of -- be on the design tos year we're expecting it grow at about 3%. which is a pretty good figure. the costs that were taken in the austerity are to pay dividend. bank,ear of the world only two regions had negative and middleo zone east and north africa. this year we are expecting they back into positive growth territory. there are some countries which haven't done well, the land, the first quarter did not do well, it's been pointed out because it was hot. euro zone on the whole we're expecting it's going to cost one percent this year, which given the performance of the euro zone

in recent years is a very good sign that things are beginning to pick up. >> does the u.k. hold any u.s.?s for the >> i think you want to look back a little bit further. areask where countries today compared to where they were prior to the crisis. states reattained its per capita g.d.p. that it had reached in 2007 within four and a half years after the crisis ended. was actually remarkably fast period, after a financial crisis it usually takes you years to get back to where you were before it began. and i think that was a or fiscaln the extra and monetary financial housing board auto response. europe isn't back yement. u.k. isn't back yet. france isn't back yet. is not back yet. germany has, and i think that you to some agree about 'difference in those policies.

economies arean starting to strengthen, they're starting to increase their demand.e they have a lot of structural challenges. but they still need that aggregate, they need that en growth.for there probably could be a role well.scal policy there as >> let's see what you all thought of the biggest surprise the coming months, owe 33% for indy, a very interesting him 16% for russia. must say a question for either of you, i was poking to a c. if worriednight who was because e had a plant that was half built in russia and what to do. how does russia play into your the global economy and how significant of a shift do you think this is? know, russia has uncertainty because along with

difficulties of making economic forecasts, there's the uncertainty. russia -- for goat when the world banks forecast for russia, but it a little less than that. a big margin around that, because if there is thenical worsening, ordinary investors begin to worry that this is a country is int going to getle broid political difficulty and you don't put in money. so russia i think we can't rely on that as a growth driver, until the political situation down. >> if you were a by closer to number ofe's been a deals lately that involve the practice of tax inversion, medtronic was just the latest. how concerned is the administration about the use of basically tax advantages and that companies have to locate operations abroad, do

you think this will be something that gives an impet us to corporate tax reform? >> this is certainly something that we're concerned about, that we are looking hard at. a proposal in our budget that would tighten up the on inversions. it would increase the share of ownership that would allow to you qualify for inversion on some of the deals you've seen qualify under that standard. so you'd still be required to pay tax in the united states. this is also part of a broader problem, where the corporate tax code that is deeply broken, with the united states having the highest in the oecd, rate with the united states having an international tax system that's broken that allows substantial base erosion and also greatly therferes with competitiveness of our countries. much our companies. solution herethe is to reform our tax code.

certainly think that's the lesson that you've heard from whiten, from senator hatch, from both side of the aisle. 'congress toington hear it loud and clear this that argument foran reforming our tax code. we also need to reduce base erosion and also as part of that need to take measures to address issue.version >> do you think that tin creasing practice of it will drive the pressure up enough to something? there's been consensus that something needs to be done for time. >> i would have thought the fact that the united states became the world record holder in rate a little over two years ago would have just put a ticking clock on our therts and increased pressure, and i think this just adds to it. and i think the good news is increased con verge look at whats if you the ways and means committee has

put forward. lot in common in terms of a tax rate in the mid to with president obama broadening the base in a similar way. system. international and so i think there is an increased agreement that something needs to be done. an increased agreement about what it is that need to be need to go now just ahead and do it. something the president would love to do. in oure gone a long time discussion about the global economy without talking about china. mr. basu, you told me earlier that you've come up with new purchasing power parody index and when china will overtake the u.s. you explain? >> the purchasing power parity, were hugethere organizations, massive organizations that computes that. hosted by the world bank. now isa, it's known

expected to overtake the u.s. sometime this year. so my own computation was the growth numbers, projecting forward and looking for the date. a date, 29 i have september, if you are interested. the u.s.y on which economy will be overtaken by i should immediately tell number, is this haven't talked about it yet. it's nowhere nearly as momentous be.ome have made it out to parityrchasing power correction, it means that within china you can buy its goods more cheap than you can american goods within the u.s. but if you look at in the international domain when you're in a third country having to go purchasinghere the power parity is unimportant because you have to pay the

price. , having said that it going to ofrtake on the 29th september. my earlier expectation was, i computation a few month ago, 2nd of november. got the numbers in the first quarter having gone down. >> what's the significance of this and how concerned is the administration about a sense is increasingly protecting its own companies? all, i feel a little with our quarterly numbers. said, what matters in the international arena is not that restaurants and haircuts under china than they under the united states. it how much your money can buy terms of financial power in terms of foreign aid, in terms power, and every one of those depend on the market

meshed on thend market exchange rate the united states is e nomple usually much larger than china is. plays a much larger role in the economy. but china is playing a global bringsd with that that opportunities. it helps support u.s. economic in china isgrowth stronger, that helms us here. it helps our exports. challenges creates and frictions and that's something that we are trying to expensively engage with china and work our way through. issues andthe spying a sense that there's favoritism sop's, do you sense a shift versusa toward their own the west? like theke something exchange rate and there have been increased number of had beenafter there some progress may in that area.

that is slipping. second lew went to china about a theh ago to engage with chinese on that issue. we have a whole bunch of other economic arenahe that we're engaging with china on. a lot of them under the interest of china's economy. they need to move away from a real estate, construction, credit directed kretd driven economic expansion to one that's more sustainable more externally balanced. and that would be in the interest of the united states as well. >> can you pit a second comment -- course. >> so there is a worry around point forecast and for the reason that i think he was just to.ding chien appears financial expansion has been huge, and overall debt is just very large, and what's happening over the last six, seven months is each

of thelittle sign economy is slowing down there's somesh set stimulus of kind coming in. a lot of it is taking the form of more debt. of may there was -- for short-term growth. when that adjustment comes, that is a bit of a risk china will fine it very difficult to manage, simply hard science is no of financial management. we've seen that 'the u.s. in have to facea may up to that sometime in the coming year, couple years, of its finance. >> i'd like to open it up for questions. we want to throw a question to all of you on your ipads. think asking where you the u.s. economy is going to head head the the ex-12 months. anyone have any

questions to start us off? few minute. >> you've already got your response. great., you're fast. looks like 2.5 to 3% wins. interesting. >> and. >> our last forecast was finalizedized in november, publd february. obviously one would update it in light of the event, but i don't would be too different from the what the majority thinks. please. >> owe please tell us where you are. work with --

mr. basu, a question for you. a head scratcher in terms of growth. i'd love to hear your perspective on growth in brazil. views onr term, your the potential of the african sub continent. to remain less than 2.5%. there are important reforms, fiscal policy measures that brazil need to take. hope lie lies is actually continent ofthe southern africa have done pretty well and if you like south ka it, big slow growing region, the rest could go over 6%. so africa is doing very well. and even in terms of poverty closely theck very last 10 years have been very

good. but there is one risk i should africa has been base moreur its gdp foreign flows. g.d.p., more than any other region. is fromrge part of it china, so there's one thisk from africa is that if you get awe slowdown in china over the next few days, that's going to hit africa very badly. well,ica has been doing but there is that one big risk looming over africa. questions? spokenone, we haven't about japan. lot of undergoing a significant reforms there. are you predicting that they subzful and how significant. >> yes. there are monetary fiscal

onerms going on be, important one which was a consumption tax increase, that is given, because people tried to get in before the increase their goods, so you've got a short type growth talkinghat japan is about now is entering the tax competition a little bit. luring that. our expectization for the expectation -- what jason referred to earlier, strengths of the u.s. is in terms of labor you to tap in on cheaper labor. i think is the policy rich countries said that labor this problem.t of rich countries have continue close in the device methods of cheaper labor

available in parts of the wild has some deep reforms to under take. some of the shadowy reforms have do with monetary and fiscal policy and that's the reason why japan after deck a is back to 1.3%, 1.5%. foro i have a question mr. furman from our i. pad submission. you remember be done for the education system in the particularly in tinner cities to help clait a growing and improve u.s. competitiveness? i think this let's gets a little the income inequality question. the start with tin equality part, there's a lot of debate, a lot of controversy your goal national weather service terms of inequality, and there's no have theat we should quality of tub as a bed rock principle. i think it impossible to look at

early childhood education and say that we have the opportunity of opportunity sox that's the myst place to start, is school precall for all. ofyou look at the enrollment american 4-year-olds in preschool, we're are 25th in the world. in the eecd. and we needathetic to fix that and we have an initial that with do that. >> as we move on from k through biggest issue is just how we are dealing with age indication al standards and core. did something that the vast bulk of state are doing, it's encountering turbulence in a few of them. but it's one of the most promising things in education reform. then going beyond that to college we've been really successful in bringing more low

income people into college. we've increased college enrollment. we haven't been as good as complel completion and together that the combination of increased enrollment and some of challenges in thretion is some of the issues associated in studente increase debt. some of that is people are going to have a hard time repaying and you see delinquencies go up and date, when i they gone down in other forms of stood dealt. the eants to that is making sure higher quality, higher value added and a, the on completion. so we need to do everything clem andhrough 12, training beyond. that. >> let's take one more comint this want ficial question. in firman what are the two or critical economic initiatives for the obama administration, meez be specific. again you've got a minute.

just, i'll confine myself to ones that begin with the letter i. immigration reform is number one. a major economic initiative. it would increase not just the force but it labor would increase our innovativeness and entrepreneurialness as an callmy raised what comizs growth.ctivity our path to sin the increases invest inl toy the education or business. investing in america's infrastructure, and i'll cheate is where reform.'s business tax but together they'd have a substantial on our growth rate

more importantly over the media and the long run, ex-panting our investment and equipment. investment in people and most importantly our overall nl base. >> we'll have to leave it there. thanks see much. you.ank some perspective on the november electionings. allsters peter hart, democrat, and bill mcinturff, a republican, talk about the general mood of the country and to the 2016 presidential campaign. a "wall streetf journal" phone network conference.

>> we were the only ones who saw coming. cantor defee but bill i'm going to turn to you first, none of us actually see the cantor defee coming. i was one of those rare shocks in political life. mean anything? significancep lay from it? >> yes, it has enormous bearing in the republican caucus. has bearing on legislative policy in the house. it sort of kids any movement in should we pass anything related to health care, should we do immigration? it will be none of that will happen. it willalso have a, also mean the leadership, it is also a remind they're when you have bad numbers like this, we're things happen. senator mcconnell is a really good politician, he's in

an anti-obama state, but he is also the leader in the congress a reminder of his own burden he bears, and then lastly lots of governors who are in trouble. and it's a reminder you have a electorate, and despite the fact that i think this will be a very republican see a fewe going to more we're things because that's what happens when people are unstable. >> the burr he bears, what's the burr? means ache's a long-term legislative leader who congress. the u.s. advantage ofe leveraging the anti-obama send send tip in the state. his own kind, his own sort of anchor he has to deal w. the cantor thing is a rereminder of how an opponent crystallize that perception of that anti-congress perception

it around one particular person. >> we've spent a lot of time together about certain goats in the republican party. cantor comes to the defeat what do you extrapolate from it? >> okay, a couple things. all, let me help you out. i me it's confusing, you look at tie, and you this say oh my gotta he must be the democrat. me, you see this conservative tie, i must be the republican. in thisthe democrat crowd. so to straighten it out. just start and put it a way in terms of the candor or incumbent of that nature who loses a primary. they lose for only one of three reasons. lose either because they're old, they lose because there's a lose becauseey they've essentially become out of touch. think what i happened to eric cantor in this situation. the point that i for bill's from

thinking is what we've been nbc "wall street journal" poll. that is that given a choice, 60% american public would pull a leaver that would take member of congress out if they could do so, including their own. so fingerprint there were that ton and an into the ballot, you would probably get somewhere in of about one in four, saying i vote for the independent. essentially the american public is looking for a way to be able i want to getry of these like, and they don point was just the easy that was there. and bills point about mcconnell, been lovedas never in kentucky, so he doesn't have that kind of personal esteem. has the challenge way.cantor has in its own

>> so we're going to poll you if we couldour pads out ask the first audience response question. up, how would you describe america's military and economic future? days are behind us, still to come, or the jury is still out! along these lines i wanted to talk about one of the most basic numbers which is the country on the wrongtrack or track? we have what quo be an historic point around 2004, where we became a wrong track we went out and they went out, people began to say that the country is on the track, it stayed that way ever since. there's a few dips here or there. pretty quited margin that we're on the wrong track much are we basically a wrong track makes now? how would you explain the sourness? >> it's usually economic based. now we've take ten great

recession and combined it and we no longer convinced that america is the leading power in world. the right direction went up during the tragedy of 9/11, so when we captured saddam hussein. of intlabz,illing those are transitory much and we are a long, long way away from feel good economically. so this very long perfect of tracks and it continues, sustained take a economic recovery to get people track, or sumterible episode that none of us here would want to happen that triggers that sort of american pride reaction. pa.failing that on

>> peter, can you talk about this. that's a real scar and a re: change from what is the core at tie and belief of the american public generally. >> well, here's the point. generations, we've also handed the baton forward. that theays believed next generation will be better off than our generation. for the first time in the history, we believe that the next generation is going to be betterff rather than off, the plurality is about i think 20 points. second thin is we asked a thes withor fbz and journal that goes back to 1995. looking a generation ahead economically, which country around the world will be the best off? and obviously we'll put the united states and china, japan,

cetera. and at that stage of the game, saidf the american public that job would be in the united said china. when we did it a year ago or so, about even. andconomically psychologically we see tough are times ahead rather than blue skies. >> you can he the results of the optimistic to the sent that only 16% think our days are abehind us. let's talk a little about november. not so much, well, we'll do a bit of prediction. interesting things have changes have coming boo

bunch ofn, washing a people out. anything like at al all the looking toward november. classic way. in an election you have extraordinary amounts of you have almost always clear skiing naturals. i don't sew this as a classic wave. what we do have is a strong republican year. republicans are going to pick up seats in the house, the senate could easily turn republican. think republicans will have legislative seats. but the kind of 94 or for the democrats those 608 or 2010, those numbers are not, i don't those numbers, their too en helicopter with everybody. again i, i think people the street strategy for the republicans in the senate lose every sickle election of 2008 in the senate, and the this to remember about sphalt is the secret strategy for the democrats in 2016 is every single senate

seat in 2010. peopleding the senate, have not talked about it, but it will be very difficult for republicans in a presidential year. i get to you peter, if can you go to the next response i think points to the federal government is what it is for goodier will, the fixable and ever repd rabble force for bad or a force denies all the above. kind after long these lines, will anything, peter, no matter happens, will anything be markedly different next year theythese people, however are, come in to congress or will we basically be looking a quite similar to what we have now. >> i think it will be depressing we come out of this election much it won't be something it won't be that will dwal vannize us in a positive way.

be ax-night is going to one story election. the senate can return to the republicans majority. republicans, the have seven seats that they've at, all red states where democrats are either retiring or democratic under challenge. the republicans do well there, that makes them in very good shape. then you've got six other states that are blue states where depending and they're in touch races. so the lot ofcans have a opportunities, so the one thing that may be interesting will be mississippi. if mississippilesss, it will be tea partyrt of victory, but the tea party goit nut 10an, i and 12 turned into john losses, in 2014.d happen again >> let's talk about a guy whos far, baracke up so

obama. two years,e last fast forking to january, look him, bill? >> i think the president is lar surprisinglyys just not in the picture. i don't think he's picture think it'sand i underrecognize how little clout power he has and what little standing he hasn't his numbers are quite low with the american what a have,s is a.ghazi, ven the very much scandal, at the we had the have i.r.s.nge, we as two years of e-mails, story to milkle feel very difficult to talk about anything else. do pick upicans cease in the house, that lack of verythat he has will be exposed. so again failing some dramatic

intervention, he is in a very difficult position. that, you can never underestimate the power of an american presidency. of a term there tend to be a little lift, as peep look back and kind of try him in historic perspective. failing somehat essential el the mental force his presidency has dissipated. >> two points i'd have to make, and i'd love to be the democrat cheuj cheerleader. but reality strikes in this case. part for theorst president is the events are controlling him, rather than the events.ling we've gonl gone through five months of this year, and you about all the things that bill mentioned and you add in add in iraq, you add in everything that has been hasening, every event

controlled him rather than he's been controlling the event. you look, we've been doing something over a long perfect of time which is looking how people feel about him personally, how they feel about him professionally in terms of his job performance. when he entered his sent term, the win at his back with many more people thinking that they were applauding his both personal and professional rating. at this stage of the game it's dumped around. so on a personal basis he no longer has that same where peoplegth, i -- love him, this stage of the game the tosident has to be able reestablish himself and stat whichto the other thing, has hillary clinton out there and that puts it in a whole brand-new story and makes it

harder for the president. >> so i want to play a bit of a game here. god created the world in six days, you're going to create democrat and republican candidate in five minute and 30 seconds. both of you are mine readers in this case we'll be political a mound ofyou have clay from scratch, you can scrai thea dee candidate on republican side, i'm not talk about a name. awant you to form it with that american pks like. be bound awant to little by reality, but the democrats have carry 18 states hours in a row. that, those states are the northeast and they're in the far and through some of the midwestern major states. so love to havewould someone who is from one of those states like you need to disrupt

the map, up in 2, i desperately somebody, public rep --tion i would love to have something from washington d.c., i would love to have a governor con frostd love to talkingwhat they're about in nir tater and what's going on in obama. president president obama ran see we're going to get things done. problem.t a it's not what happened. people are so tired, they can imagine why we a countrying with that's in this kind trouble. my ideal candidate would be powerfully right to fine a way siment --o that ten sentiment and demonstrate some track record.

i get to you, miles bill or centrist type fiery, an kroi coney capitalism -- think that's for the people here. becomelph made der has good friends with grover nor buddies andy become ralph nader talks about the continuum gens corporate power, that's a against here. we need to understand that part bailout shoat is for wall street and we need to power that has. but i, here's the other thing in and the rep period. woman, she there's a tracks every political ad.

you have to demonstrate your obamaty to stop the agenda. but at some point you got to governor and that's what folks are looking for. >> i with like somebody with the therience of hilly clinton, charisma of by clinton, the orer of ba barack obama, and i think the most important some economic program that shows the thattiality for growth sends that again i would say to be able to work both with business and aacross into the democratic lines. but the point that bill makes is the most important point. the mast 24ve for hours carry a slew of states, what's needed. any democrat has to be able to

do exceptionally well with minorities, has to be youngo do well with people, and with women. democrats have a major advantage until the republicans find a reach thosele to groups either through someration or through element on the choice issue, to break to be able through, i can't be at the old republican party gives the democrats too much of an advantage. >> does this person have at least a dollup of elizabeth warren in them? smallould say a very very doll lop. from my point of view, the thing are to understand about elizabeth warren is what bill saying. and that is there is a sense confidence it will be waz,ly sense confidence in

the business community, all of those almosts and the looking for a way to balance that much that's the lirs that's working for warren. >> what will be a stay that goes blue next? doesn't have to be 2016, that will surprise people. >> j. >> well before texas? >> texas will be reliably blue, but it will take another to get there. >> so diswravment sooner than that -- that.a sooner than >> yes. ?> question from the audience the inability of the current to-party system to compromise create an opening for introduction of a third

party? >> it never does. on a jagi have been together. which is really said, look, the public is so unhappy, give them some alternative and they will go for it. and i honestly believe that if there were a space on the ballot that said for the voters, call a broom coalition, i want iem all out, if you had that, think people would punch it to a large extent. and from my point of view, the there, i don't are the name, i don't have the way in which it comes together, lot morenk there's a togetherness with the right and the left in certain areas than look at as we individual issues. >> can we pause one second, we more question.

if you grab your i pads that up. come >> are we publishing this? responses?ng the no, we're tweeting them. when it comes to the recession recovery sense and the federal government made matters worse, may matters better, either way?r much bill, third party. >> yes. i would like peter's ideal candidate, that sounded exceptional. sort of like i saw -- these are real people with all excess minuses and we kind of pick that person. inparty needs the docks nominate someone to the left of hillary clinton. need one to nominate someone well to the right of our if that nominees, and happened there's room in the middle. then the thing that used to be barrier which is money, the

internet has replaced that barrier. there has not been a candidate, were think peter and i saying in 2011, look at these numbers, somebody should run in of this.e and if it's senator clinton and the republican mainstream like mccain or romney, each party sucks the middle out. the odds, right now i know if you ask people would you vote republican, democrat or if you could would you vote for an thenendent third party, the e lengths answer right now is a third, a third and a third. that's where we are as a country. and it is a country that would one to have an option, if existed, and again going back in if perot in 1929 had and ranthe perot party as a perot candidate, that would have had had fundamental impact it would have

forestalled republicans winning control of the congress because inherited the perot votes. response on the question. i wonder how that would jive if a thousand americans whether that would be similar to what came out of this room. >> again, americans have complex feels. but the other way america works they are the democrat party goes this way and people pull them walk, the republican party and peopleis way pull them back. about but they say oh, they have a man day, day want the real stuff. and there's a governing instinct that is pretty powerful. >> anyone else out here? the ipaduestion from it's asking its own questions.

what are the chances that we have a woman president in the next election? successful in the next election. you.ion for both of >> well, there's only one answer beiously and that would hillary clinton and can she win. the answer is of course she can out with aart tremendous advantage, and we just as we were coming on stage the last person who had as big an advantage going interest election year, and that was ed musky. quite as well out for ed musky. but with what it really comes to is that she'll have a womendous advantage with voters, she's going to have a tremendous advantage with voters. and she will have an advantage voters, all three key to the core of the democratic party. the one question and

this is the one we'll be looking her ashink people see confident and it goes back to the barack obama quote. is she likeable enough. she starts out i think in a position. it will be interesting to see that's theumbers, one i'll be watching in this campaign. >> next question, can we get the air conditioning turned down in here, it's freezing. ( laughter ) is that the consensus? okay we'll start say small fire back. >> we're glad that we're stimulating the discussion. fortune 100a c.e.o., this must be somebody free pollingt advice, is there a fortune 100 the capabilities to run for presidential office? >> no.

( laughter ) have sort of a funny story. doing jim mccain -- that sarah palin would never be hired as a c.e.o. for a major company so the called, sheager says i'll fix it and goes back out and the point is that what c.e.o.s do and what you do to govern are different skills. c.e.o.s are like generals much generals make lousy candidates, candidatehard to be a much the average c.e.o. who despite their extraordinary just not good at the sort of give and take the politics requires and negotiating with equal peers times hundreds of people to get things done.

>> eisenhower? >> well, again, this way he was sort of an unusual general, because he spent all of world negotiatorg the between the allies to get something done. he did day day and signed all the credit goes to the troops, but me wrote that fail i take all the responsibility. that is a powerful story about a a presidency that very few people get. the audience?om do you have a enter respective on term limits? >> yes, i do. terrible idea. why.'ll tell you the theory is that boy that gives us new turnover, that's to help. the fact of the matter is you wouldn't do it in business, if good leader you want a good leader to able to day in there. a bad leader you want to be able to get them out. theit does is to hand into professional lobbyists and

everybody else all the power in terrible idea. >> i agree. half the converse has been the obama era. i did the tracking for the first in the '95grich shutdown, i can tell you what happened during the shutdown, i remember that. there were very few people left in the house republican caucus do. it has given more power to unelected folks and has not worked the pay people hoped. has felt shut out of washington over the last several years and alien ated at various times. washington. did that change in the mid term elections? the the send tim, engagement of business, the concern about businesses shifting inis that washington or are we going to see more of the same? you the biggest

problem is confidence, and at this stage of the game, and we measured it in a poll just recently, it was only for big somewhere in the neighborhood of 17, 18%. i any the good news is the news media was about 14%. when it comes to the financial almosttions, it's down in single digits. and so the idea that somehow business does not listen to the theican public, would say american business is not listening to us. so there's a lot of repairing oh both side. you, please join me in thanking our panel. [applause] >> former iraq administrator paul brimmer wrote in the "wall recently about the possibility of sending more u.s. troops to iraq. the nextn us on

"washington journal." we'll also talk to congresswoman about u.s. options in iraq. she serves on the house homeland servicesand armed committees. later as part of our spotlight steven leefseries, magazine.ed on can join the conversation facebook, twitter and by phone. >> the idea behind 250 and 250 is that instead of trying to of st.e entire history louis as a timeline or ayer ra missa, we would absolutely vitally important things. so instead of trying to do that what ifing, we decided we just gave snapshots of st. louis history that would give

glimpse of all the diverse things that have happened here and they could use their imaginations to fill in rest. so we chose 350 people, 50 places, 50 moments, 50 images and 50 objects, and tried to choose the most diverse selection we possibly could. we're standing in the 50 objects section of the exhibit right this is what most people would call the real history, this is where the is right in front of you. brewing is such a huge part of louis' mystery, it's an amazing story with latest of different breweries, and of famous becamet anheuser-busch, with the largest in the world. this is from an era when things were simple pler, and it's fun people this object and game their response. in the days before they had cans

caps.ts they put corks this the top much boltings and somebody had to sit hand.s thing and do it by you can see it's got food pedals on the bottom, that's where the down withould push his feet to give the cork enough force to go into the bottle, and it's got three holes for three different size bottles. andhis weekend, the history literary life of st. louis, the gateway to the west. book tv. 2's and c-span 3's american history tv. civil rightsgo

>> good morning. y name is ben jealous. we are here to talk about the report "true south." we are deeply honored this morning to be joined by an all-star panel of leaders from the region who are helping to transform the way that we see the south and the way the people in the south see the prospects for the region. we are joined by stacy abramson will be coming up here to speak in a few minutes to give this speech that we all respond to. she is the minority leader in the general assembly. she is the first woman to ead.

she is in her 30's. derek johnson is the president f the naacp. the ed of the new orleans workers at center for. mayor steve benjamin, the first black mayor of columbia, south carolina since econstruction. the president of voto atino. when you read through what you will see is changes here in the south.

we are transforming very rapidly and if more people paid more attention we could ransform faster still. the region these days is typified in many ways by voter suppression, attempts to put in latino exclusion acts a guild chinese exclusion act that we saw after the civil war. very targeted bills are put in lace to make it more difficult for immigrants of color to remain in the south.

the south as an organizer in my opinion, it is a light switch. use on or is off. you can see it in north carolina in the last 10 years. major progressive changes. huge ultraconservatives pushed back. we say in this country that there are two clichés that are stuck with me. one is it is always darkest before the dawn. when you organize in the context of the south, there is no dimmer. things are either on of their off. the other is from conversations i have had with people in this town. why should we invest if nothing has changed? lack of investment is the surest form of historic preservation. what you'll hear from stacy is that things are changing and there is great hope. we now have the numbers to get things change faster still. stacy?

>> i wanted to say thank you to ben and to my fellow panelist. i am here to talk about why this matters very why the history of freedom summer remains prominent and critical. there was a photo this year and it is of my father marching. it is a re-creation of a march the heated when he was 15 years old and mississippi. it was a march to guarantee the right to vote for african-americans. he was not going to benefit from that march. even if he managed to open the doors, he was not going to he allowed to cast a vote. he did it anyway because he understood what he was doing today would benefit him three years later. my mother did not march that day but she was also involved in the civil rights movement.

both of them raised us to understand that voting was a moral obligation. it was more than an opportunistic obligation. i will say this, i also understand acutely that progress is not artisan. neither party has had a hand in helping and harming the progress of the south. i believe in progress. as such, i focus my attention on how we build coalitions of voters who can change the dynamic and change the trajectory of policy. that change is built and the three things. the first is understanding what you are voting for. too often our voters do not register because they should bother. that happens because you don't know that your state legislature is not picking up for your trash and the president can't change the lights. you -- the governor

decides how much money goes into your schools. then you will not understand why to vote. our obligation is to understand the underlying impact of voting. the second conversation has to be who votes. these conversations focus on one party, whether it is latinos or the african-americans or the asian-americans. my belief is if we want to transform the south, we have to bring all coalitions together. i have worked very hard to pull together the latino, asian american, an african-american coalitions. it is not a dimmer. it is an on or off switch. when the light comes on, if we are not staying together then e face regression.

i started a non-profit. in 2014 my mission was to focus on voting. that is the third part. registering to vote is the first clarion call for change. in a state of georgia more than 800,000 african-american, latino, and asian voters are unregistered. 260,000 voters can change a tate election. we can register them and they an change the country. if you change georgia then you can change the south and if you change the staff to change the nation. the demographics will tell you that the south and southwest are the fastest-growing parts of this country. if we have to move progressive policies then we run the risk of standing here in 2024 and have a different conversation

about why we have the most undereducated, most incarcerated, and least economically mobile population. for me, this is a clarion call but it is also an opportunity. voting is opportunistic. it is taking that sacred right and transitioning it and turning it into control of your future. the new georgia project has registered more than 23,000 voters in the deep south. we have focused on voters of color because they are the lead. there the fastest changing demographic. , if you can engage them now you can engage them permanently. investment in the south is investment in change for the nation. it is the change of progress that we are not just talking about incarceration rates seen nowhere else in the industrialized world. the best way to close the gap is to actualize that human capital in the community.

if you went to see education change, educate the poorest and the kids of color. this can be lived in the deep south. it can be lived in georgia and south carolina. if they are lived and realize they can be exported to the rest of the country. i am from a southern mississippi. i grew up in gulfport. i moved to georgia and texas and went north to new england and came back. i am a southerner at heart. i don't like being cold. i understand that the south is where change happens. i am honored to be here today because i know that if we harness the power of the african-american community, latino voters, asian american voters, if we tie them together in an unbroken not and bind them together to look forward

to a future, then the center for more american progress will look no further than the south to see what america's future looks like. thank you. >> we will at the panelists take their seats. i think you can see why i stopped telling her a long time ago what she couldn't do. she told me she would be the first black governor of georgia. she is certainly on her way. i want to get things kicked off here. i wanted to start us off. this summer as the 50th anniversary of freedom summer. one of the iconic visuals that we have of freedom summer is blacks and whites working side-by-side to unleash democracy in mississippi, georgia and throughout the region. last year was the anniversary of a rebellion against the king

that was suppressing the ote. can you talk about the ongoing work in the south that is building a common cause between blacks and whites in getting people to see their common interests across all racial lines? thank you for that wonderful presentation. > i was elected in 2010. it was by a very deliberate action the people came together across racial lines and across political lines to support our campaign. it was about unifying our city. our theme was about one columbia. all of the issues that matter

to each of us in this room individually matter to us collectively. we focused on the reality that latino families care about environmental sustainability. the group of conservative white businessman cared about black boys. black families cared about being good stewards of tax dollars. these are issues that mattered to each and every one of us. we were going to run a modern campaign. they were going to see us in churches and social media. we were going to run a modern campaign with tv ads and very active online campaigns. we were going to have direct nail and phones. running a modern campaign but most importantly running a modern positive campaign that

focused on the issues that were important. it is amazing how people can come together. over the last several years we have seen a mismanagement of our electoral process. this conversation we are having can be a wonderful counter to try and oppose that trend. i believe it is about issues. it is about the reality of ideas and how issues matter. people are more complex and concerned about the fact that in israel and nigeria and the oppression of people in china. if you speak to those issues and speak in a way that brings people together, it is amazing how powerful ideas can be.

>> you are in a state that people consider ground zero for the fight against poverty and for justice. talk about the need for making what is old new again and getting back to what so many of our family members were doing 0 years ago. >> he often refocused too often on what is being done and not ho is being done to. he was talking about the who it was being done to. 50 years ago the focus of those students and those world war ii veterans who came together and organized in infrastructure in mississippi focused on a few issues. the medical committee for civil

rights was established at that ime. it was access to voting and free of voter suppression and intimidation. what are we dealing with today? voter id. education, states like mississippi did all they could o. we are seeing school privatization take place all over the country. the new orleans public system ceases to exist because of a privatization movement that is not shown any real progress in providing call the education. who is that being done to? access the health care, the affordable care act which will

benefit many people across this country but the benefactors in mississippi are majority white. it is resisted because you can put a lack label on it. none of this would be key if people were not trying to exploit cheap or free labor. we have a company in mississippi. it allows for workers to collect. in mississippi the workers do not have a chance to ollectively bargain. people are seen as affordable and cheap labor. we must focus on those primary issues. if we look at the who and not the what and the who is organizing we can progress the south. if you draw a line from the

atlantic ocean to the pacific ocean, you are looking at the browning and blacking of america. 52% of all african-americans live in the south. the increased population of latinos is in the southwest. if you put those groups together we will have a moral majority. we can have an impact on all of our lives and improve quality. >> i think he set you up any ell. >> we get started soon after hurricane katrina. i think everyone in this room and everyone in the country remembers exactly where they were when they heard about hurricane katrina. it has left an indelible impact on the country's history. hurricane katrina was followed

by as the water receded public policy that deeply divided the city. it locked one group of people outside the labor market and locked one into the labor market. hundreds of thousands of african-americans were displaced. they could not participate in the reconstruction of their own city. hundreds of thousands of immigrants were brought in and sometimes quite literally locked in to horrific working conditions. my organization has started when workers escaped from labor camps and gathered in new orleans with communities around them. they decided in a convention to collectively raised their voices were workers rights. new orleans in the south has been thought of more as part of he country's past.

i would contend that new orleans in the south have a lot more to do with our future at this point. new orleans became a crystal ball. it showed exactly the kind of demographic change that derek was talking about. it also showed that demographics by itself is not destiny. unless there is a shared protagonist some. unless there are the freedom summer's and the freedom riders, demographic shift can lead to even more intractable inequality. even greater wealth disparity. new orleans and louisiana show this very well. louisiana is the 50th out of 50 states to be a woman. it has a 20% poverty rate.

there is only a 10% chance that a child that is born in the lower five percent will ever get to the highest five percent. i agree with the mayor. ideas matter and issues matter. it is possible to build strong, multiracial coalitions out of the basic bread and butter economic issues that workers and their families are facing. the importance of dignity at work. the importance of a strong safety net that catches workers in long periods of nemployment. the importance of building some kind of economic coalition in the labor market that can change a city and the state. i would say that in terms of the freedom summer applied now,

we are up against more than we have been up against in the past. there is collectively billions of dollars of tax breaks being given to corporations for job creation and louisiana. if you look at the proportions of tax break hours to the portion of jobs created, close to $8 million per job is for subsidies. these are the kinds of unconscionable decisions that are made by public policy actors. it comes down to we are not going to be able to turn demographic shifts into a proposition for unity and equality unless there is multiracial coalitions and strategy the turn current

inequality into real voter rights issues. >> one of things we are talking about today is the antidote. we learn from freedom summer about massive voter registration. what are your plans for places like texas and florida? >> thank you so much for having this conversation. i think one of the things that the center always does is have conversations about difficult issues. when we talk about voter registration, it all comes back to the basics. you mentioned we have been doing this for over 50 years. while the american people were working all of these voter id laws were passed in seven states. that wasn't by accident.

there is a huge demographic shift that we have not seen before. you have 18% of the united states is latino. 800,000 latinos turn 18. that is a congressional district and it is happening in the south. the voting rights act has been gutted. that is not a surprise because shelby county is the fourth largest county of latino growth. he growth is 300%. what is happening, neighbors all of a sudden do not recognize their neighborhood. the best thing to do is basically suppressed them. we need to build coalitions but we have to build coalitions with like-minded individuals. we need to make sure we are working with african-americans, latinos, and asians. there is an emerging single white woman feeling under attack, and their friends and

family. in 2018, this majority emerging is going to be the largest part of eligible voters. their participation is close to 12% below the baby boomers. when we talk about how did we create this manifestation of our destiny in america, we have to enfranchise folks with a lot of education. what we find in the work that we do at voto latino, it is not about party, it is about issue. when you talk about the code of immigration, it becomes so personal and caustic, that is what is getting the latino population to participate. they are participating -- this is where it is very personal. the once participating most are young latina women. yes, immigration is something that is a problem to them and very personal. it is when the women's right to choose comes on the table that they say "not on my watch."

why? the average latino is 27 years old. when we are talking about minimum wage hikes and access to health care and education, the legislation we are seeing in our country directly impacts a generation living at right now. student debt? they are living it now. the work we are doing in texas is called spread your voice. the idea of building on social media platforms. we are partnering with rock the vote. it is not enough to find a petition. you have to register and participate at the polls. texas alone right now has over 2 million young latinos that are unregistered to vote. there are two congressional districts to illustrate how powerful this is that were basically won with less than 1000 voters. congressional districts. over 60,000 or 80,000 unregistered latinos in these districts. it is all about the

numbers. unless we start talking very frankly about the money in politics, and that also the vote is one that affects all of us. then we have possibility and opportunity. something i always like to say -- people say there is too much money in politics. there absolutely is. rich people vote. they know it does not matter how much money there is, they still have to get up in the morning and go and participate. one last thing we need to address is the time tax. the tax people have to stand in line, unfortunately it is mostly for the working poor, minority, and college campus folks that have to wait hours. not two hours or three hours. up to 12 hours to cast a vote. that is a time tax. if they're going to purchase pay that day were they are making ends meet and putting food on the table. >> thank you.

stacy, one of the things we do is we go through and we look at how massive voter registration in particular states can change the balance of power. when you are going door-to-door and signing up people, they often say why should i vote yes but nothing ever changes. could you talk about what is at stake in georgia and what is motivating people to get out and sign up their neighbors to vote like they have not done in a long time. >> the new georgia project, what we did was ask that very question. i was talking to maria about it. if you are an african american man in georgia who did not vote for barack obama, not partisan that is the closest thing to motivate you to vote. the issues are threefold. one, voter intimidation. they hear about voter suppression. if you have never voted you do

not know what it means. if you are going to stand in line or lose your job because you went to vote. you don't know what the card is that you keep hearing about, you know you do not have the id they think you should have. making sure we understand how to talk about voter identification in a positive way. making sure people understand what they are voting for. most people have no idea what a congressional district is or a congressperson does. voter education is part of it. the third piece is the policy piece. what stephen derrick talked about -- what steve, derrick, and saket talk about. we are trying to bring those together. voter registration in the context of seeing something happen. as much as there is a time tax, there's a cost to not voting. if you do not know you are paying that cost, it is like having a credit card balance you never look out. if you keep running up that tab, it is going to come

due. we are trying to have conversations with neighbors, how do you register your friends to vote and talk to them about why letting matters. those of us who vote for a living and know how to vote, we assume everybody else does. talk about it on a granular level and talk about the outcome and you start to see a lot of change. the other piece, in georgia and the last decade, more than 1.5 million people moved into the state. the vast majority of whom were people of color. they are new to georgia. for us, the next election is the first time they have had a chance to really see what transformation can do. we are a state that is a little ahead of louisiana and mississippi in terms of poverty, but not by much. we have a few more people so we skew the data. we face all of the things that face every other state in the south. if we change the dynamics this year, we sent a signal for 2016 and 2018 and for 2020. 2020 is the year every southern

state should have their eye on. you get to decide who is going to draw the map for the next generation. if we can start that conversation today and start thinking about it today, we sent a signal that ben talked about. investing in the south makes sense. if you want a long-term return on your investment, this is the year to pay attention. if elections get done well this year and we see the real strong trend, democracy is not destiny. it is a really good guess of what destiny can look like. get them registered this year and send a signal about how it can be done not just in georgia could be exported to other states. >> what you are mentioning is the 2020 census, incredibly important for our future. one of the things i encourage part of this work to be is how do we change how things happen when it comes to redistricting. one of the main things, you see the beauty of it in california. they appointed a public commission. it was individual citizens

voted in and they got to create a map that reflected california. that impacted across party lines, republican or democrat. all of a sudden you had a chance to craft a not reflective of your community. one of the biggest problems in congress now is that the districts are gerrymandered. it does not reflect the american public. where did a lot of african-americans in louisiana end up? in texas. in the last census, there were four congressional districts because of the boom in texas. that was attributed to three congressional districts that should have been assigned to the latino community and one to the african-american community. it is because of the gerrymandering. one of the best ways to go against gerrymandering is to make sure that we are having public commissions. >> when you look at a 2020 strategy, it is similar to what

the right did leading to 2010. in mississippi, we have had the most successful redistricting. we had an explosion from 1965 to 2010, more elected officials than other states. much of that happened as a result of concentrated voter registration, more african-americans. followed by 14 years of litigation and nine trip to the supreme court, which forced them to open up to due process with the ways in which by 1992, 21 members supported. currently it is 49. that only happened because of aggressive work on the part of citizens across the state. the shelby decision turned that around. right after the supreme court decision, the voter id amendment passed in 2011, now is not reality. we were able to stop this

because it did discriminate against african american voters. last week in mississippi with voter id, our secretary of state comes out to talk about how they give a success it was. only 300 people were denied a vote. that tells you a lot. because of the close election, 300 five. one vote can make a difference. as demographic shifts take place we had to be mindful that the small changes in voter suppression laws can have a devastating impact long-term. >> to put it in perspective, you talked about 17 black sheriffs in mississippi, that is a state that is 35% black. >> 38% african-american. 33% of the legislature is african-american. >> you have about 82 counties? >> yes, 82 counties, 17 african-american sheriffs. 15 now. >> that shows what a hard push it is. as a high water mark.

>> you look at mayors, we were up to 81 mayors at one point. after the show the decision, we're going to begin to see a reversal of those reductions to ensure that all citizens are able to cast a vote. >> as a voter registration become so important. people want to say progress in the south is short-lived, look at the 19th-century reconstruction. change dies a quick death. look at the new salvo in the 1970's and 1980's, dies pretty quick. different this time. we are not just coming out of slavery or segregation. we are much more sophisticated than we were 50 years ago or 150 years ago. the numbers have changed. that also presents a challenge. getting people to see the one as being bigger than we have been struggling to. can you talk about people who

are in office, what it is like to get people to see themselves as one? we are not just dealing with black and white in the south. >> justin the 27 years i have been in south carolina, it has changed dramatically. south carolina -- we talk about some of the tax breaks -- it has the largest percentage per capita of foreign direct investment in the u.s. people come in from all around the world. not just from south of the border, but from canada, france and germany, and japan. we are seeing a very multiethnic, very positive growth. columbia is becoming a very cosmopolitan city and it is exciting to watch that. we are talking about trying to ingrain in the future of the south and as a result america, we are talking about playing chess rather than checkers.

long-term strategies that allow the true america that we all believe in to emerge. that comes down to the issues and the ideas that cut across every line we have dividing us. at some point, we will talk about the fact that registering and organizing requires capital. it is message, money, and i would love to say manpower, but it flows better. i know it is womanpower. omeone complimented my aughter. she said i get my looks from my mother and my brains from my father. i was impressed until she said my mother still has all her rains.

money and women power. playing chess, being thoughtful and deliver it. the spirit that we are building a country together. preparing our country not just for being equal and fair also competitive. ecause of the challenges our country is facing and has faced ver the last 50 years, for many of us i will think it is by chance that this is being released 50 years after the deaths of chaney, schwerner, and goodman. it will continue to dramatically affect the competitiveness of america as this world continues to become flatter. that is something we have to continue. we have to play chess, not checkers. >> it was in our hearts that this is the 50th anniversary of the lynching in the midst of freedom summer in

mississippi. any of us have worked with their families. in pushing to open up our democracy, they are opening up our economy. voter suppression and poverty go hand-in-hand at the end of the day. stacey, can you talk about what you are trying to do in georgia just to make not just our democracy work for everybody but our economy. > too often, the bifurcation s black and white. in south it is black, white, brown, yellow. we have an obligation to think about it that way. immigration reform was an economic issue. you had black farmers, latino workers, white farmers, folks who were going to lose --

restaurant workers who were losing economic capacity. $300 million in the first six months of a terrible bill that was completely dismantled by the supreme court. what that meant was that we had to not simply have -- this is not a latino issue. this was a georgia issue that require that every person who thought that jobs were important had to come together. when you talk about workers rights, those are economic issues. the human capital lost every single day when we undereducate our population. when we do not pay a living wage. when we do tax breaks that only break the back of workers and do not create revenue. every day we do that undermines our long-term capacity as a state. if it happens in georgia, it is a state of 10 million people. if we do it poorly, think about every other southern state that is smaller. if you do it right, you send a signal, it is proof of concept

for what can happen. the other part of the new georgia project is talking about economic issues. i like what steve said about being fiscally conservative. you do not change things unless they need to change. it is not what has been appropriated to meet. most people of color are fiscally conservative, we do not have enough money to squander it. we cannot get to that conversation of thoughtful tax policy, thoughtful engagement on economic issues when we are not at the table making those choices. when i am sitting in the state legislature and there is no one who looks like me, if you are not -- this is a wonderful phrase. if you are not at the table, you are on the menu. with tax policy in particular, people of color are the main course. we pay a lot in taxes and do not get as much back in terms of social welfare. all of those decisions are made

behind our backs. we talk about appropriations. in the middle of a chess game, you don't care about appropriations. it is a question of where they got the money from. we are not the ways and means conversation where they are making your tax policy. we are not arguing about why instead of cutting social security we are talking about raising the cap. we are not talking about cutting the payroll tax. if we're not having those conversations together, we cannot change the dynamic. if the coalition looks like this panel and you have thoughtful white women who are also the most victimized by the tax policy, that is when you start to change the political future of the country at the economic. we have more, we spend more. as a small-business owner, i like people who can buy my stuff. it is in our best interests to build coalitions, not only voting coalitions but economic partners. >> we will take some questions. i want to thank my friends at

cap. and our friends at the southern elections foundation. marvin randolph is here. and i would think c-span. happy to take questions. righthere. >> good morning. my name is curtis johnson, i am from chicago, illinois. i saw at the age of seven when harold washington's campaign changed the demographics as far as voter registration. i am on board in that regard. for everyone else, increasing the volume of voters is one piece. making sure that they are actually eligible to vote considering voter id is a different ball of wax. i started an organization focused on helping connect voters what their edification. there are three paths to voter d, or to combating voter

suppression. one is the legislative path, getting a new voting rights act. two, the legal aspect of fighting in court. three, if neither of those are working in each election cycle, it is connecting voters to their id and helping them get to the polls and doing civic ducation and engagement. having a hard time starting and i wanted to know, from your perspectives, is there room for an organization like mine that simply wants to get the voters what they need to combat these aws? >> president obama, right before the elections, basically said we have voter id. you need to find out what it is that you need to get to participate in the polls. i am of the mind of absolutely. until we can start beating back some of this legislation and changing hearts and minds, i say that because in the latino community when you ask a latino whether or not they should have

an id, their knee-jerk reaction is absolutely. they do not realize the nuances. in texas, you can have a gun carrying license as your id at the voting booth but your student id is invalidated. i love the mind of yes, absolutely. one of the things that is by not doing it you are preventing voters until we have the legislation at the national and state-level that combats it. i think it is incredibly important. >> i agree. i think it is exactly the route to go. hank you for having the vision to see through this incredible yriad of challenges. >> hi, mindy, i'm involved with a number of social justice

organizations. one of which has done a lot for civil rights. a question about the idea in terms of voting by mail. that is done in some states. early voting, again, a lot of this has been trashed because of the legislation in different states. are you supportive of these kind of initiatives and what difference would it make in terms of the folks that you work with getting them to vote? how would you do voter id by mail? how would that even work? >> in fact, it does not, that is why the state of mississippi -- only individuals who go to the polls in person will have to show id. folks voting by absentee ballot by mail do not. there has never been any proven case of somebody trying to vote on the wrong name. we have a history of voter fraud by absentee ballot.

guess who voted by absentee ballot. we are supportive of anything that increases access to voting. and anything that suppresses voting, we are opposed. early voting is a tremendous opportunity for people to have access to voting. we saw it in 2008 in north carolina. because of the progressive legislation leading up to the 2008 elections, a number of individuals who had been disenfranchised were able to ote. they changed that inanimate passion to change the dynamic in north carolina. in 2010 and changed again, but access to voting is paramount. >> well the microphone is moving, i want to thank ben, the primary researcher on this report at cap. >> hello, i am a rising senior in college. as a college student, one of my

biggest questions is how do we get involved. as i think about what has worked in the past with students and as i think about the future of who we need to mobilize, how do you think we can mobilize college students. as a fellow student and someone who is trying to advise administrators on how to mobilize students, what are your thoughts? >> we will let the former student body president of spellman answer. stacey abrams. >> the student population needs to understand the voter id laws. too often, students do not change their voter registration when they go to college even though in most states they can. and they do not put absentee where they are from. make sure students should vote where they live. since they spend nine months out of the year in college, but for the communities where they are living. you vote where you live, not

where you're from. that is the first piece. making sure they have the requisite id. in georgia, college ids are not voter ids. college campuses are in every one of these communities where you have the largest populations that need access to voter ids. about face is a great idea. if students made it their mission to get every person who needed id, get them identification, that would transform elections. i agree that is the law of the land, voter id is here. let's stop whining about it and start working. working towards it is harnessing the power of students to get folks to get their own ids. put your own mask on first and get everybody else. kind of like on the plane. make sure every person you talked to has an id. one of the things we are doing, when we register you to go, we ask if you have voter id. it does not matter if you register a thousand voters. if they cannot vote because of a simple piece of paper.

>> i would encourage identifying is it the organization that you can cap into. voto latino launched an organization where we worked with fraternities and sororities and created a challenge. the sorority that wins, we will do a special treat. we had wilmer valderrama to a concert. how do you work with existing organizations and plug in nationally? >> i hope i did not beat derrick to the punch -- he mentioned civil rights advocacy years ago. many moons ago. >> freedom summer -- >> i was the youngest of the group. >> he was not. if you look at the schwerners, the goodmans and the chaneys.

if you look at 25 years ago and the capacity to effect social change that you have now. what we were able to do 25 years ago or 50 years ago pales in comparison. the advent of technology. you are smarter than we are. you are brighter and much more digital. it is amazing what one person sitting in their dorm room, how they can touch millions of people, if not billions, with just the click of a mouse. it is amazing. all of you have wonderful ideas. think of tapping into existing organizations or starting your own. whether it happens to be. this is basic math and tackling. we have to capitalize on before 020.

>> freedom summer was not about a bunch of old men and women. it was about students who organized across states. hollis watkins was 17. they thought bob was old. the rest were between 17 and 21. spellman, usc. ordaining across states. tremendous impact has happened when students are focused on a target. and you will make a bunch of mistakes. half the things we did we have no clue. but as a result of some of the things, we saved historically black colleges that were publicly funded from being closed in 17 states. you have the power to make an impact. >> a good point to close on.

coming to the end of our hour. i wear thank our panel and all of you. please pick up the report. if you are in a state that has voter id -- that stretches from delaware to texas. how do we get beyond this moment? this report tells you how money folks need to be signed up to vote in the communities we have been talking about to change the balance of power. i want to change with this thought from the great republican frederick douglass. his tirade against the chinese exclusion act. "every country has a destiny that is defined by its geography and character. its character is defined by that nation at its best. and the geography of each nation that shaped the destiny is unique. we are bordered by two oceans that connect us to the rest of the world and two borders that attach us to friendly countries of different races."

he said that our destiny based on our character defines us at our best and that our geography is to be the most perfect example of the unity of a human family that the world has ever seen and the politics of the people on the stage and of this report, that is the promise we are seeking. the promise that united white indentured servants and black slaves to rebel 351 years ago in virginia and united blacks and whites to come together and freedom summer 50 years ago in mississippi. and today, blacks and whites and latinos and asians can come together for a true south. absolute democracy for all of us. thank you and god bless. national captioning institute] national

>> coming up a conversation on u.s. foreign policy challenges around the world. on this morning's "washington journal," a look at the growing violence in iraq. we'll talk to paul bremer. "washington journal" starts at 7:00 eastern. the head of general motors will testify about the company's investigation of the ignition switch problems and subsequent recalls. this week, the detroit-based auto maker announced the recall of an additional 3 million cars. you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter and watch live coverage from the house energy and commerce committee today at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span-3. later in the day, two house foreign affairs panels h investigate the pentagon's position to exchange five

guantanamo detainees for ergeant bow bergdal. lso on c-span-3. >> now, a conversation on u.s. foreign policy challenges. topics include iran, syria, and the current violence in iraq. the american conservative and the institute for security and conflict studies hosted this event.

>> good morning and thank you all for coming. welcome to our conference on the new internationalism. i would like to thank george washington university and the institute for conflict studies for hosting this event. and thanks also to our cosponsors the american conservative and the american prospect. my name is daniel. i am the senior editor and i will will be moderating this mornings panel. this will be a discussion on threats and responses on the focus of how to manage threats without resorting to military action. we will be addressing some of the following questions. what are the real threats to u.s. security and interests? which are vital and take priority? how to best respond. how can the u.s. ensure long term stability? and what will aid the u.s. in doing this and what actions

should the u.s. avoid? each panelist will begin with their own remarks and then a little time for questions from the audience. joining me is william lind, expert on military affairs. seated opposite me on the end dan dress anywhere professionor , nonresident senior fellow and contributor to the "washington post," most recently the author of how the system worked. and matt, at the center for american progress where he focuses on national security, policy in the middle east with a concentration on iran and the israeli palestinian conflict and also a columnist. to begin the conversation i will say a little bit about how we in america tend to discuss threats and our i want rest in foreign policy debates. then i will try to answer the

questions i just mentioned. in general, american foreign policy debate purports to find an american state in every conflict. the interests are frequently and often wrongly taken to be of vital importance. the overall number of u.s. interests is exaggerated and so is the significance of the interests involved. that enforces another threat to the u.s. that aren't there. the u.s. does face real threats but these are either minor or manageable ones. however, the more manageable threats are the more inclined we seem to be to overrate and react to them. the more grandiose and ambitious rule we imagine the more we will will b alard with conflicts that have little or nothing to do with american security. that means we're seeing threats

that don't exist and ones that do existential threats. mccain was the last to discuss this when he discussed the advance of isis forces in iraq as a threat to forks in america. as long as the u.s. continues to be sustainable in global order, we will continue that position with dangers for the u.s. and the entire system built up since world war ii. but the u.s. and allies are in reality far more secure than that. it's a dangerous habit that needs to be broken. but there is an alternative. it requires us to focus on the few truly vital interest that the u.s. has such as the stable and security of europe and that of our major allies in east asia. and to skish them from -- zigsting wish them. it requires us to give priority instead of attempting to respond to each new conflict as

if the u.s. had a huge stake. we'll be hearing much more from the author of the new book, restraint. but i will quote from the preface. how it would address threats to the united states. he writes, the united states should focus on a small number of threats and approach those threats with subtlety and moderation. it should do that because the world is resistant to heavy handed solutions. it can do that because the u.s. is economically and militarily strong, and possessed of an enormous ability to regenerate itself. any effort to reorient u.s. foreign policy away from the reliance on military action will have to include preventive warfare. dismissing the role of deterrence and overreacting a if they cannot be contained.

prevention makes sense as a policy only if one accepts some government cls not be detrd. the u.s. would also need to be wary of force to intervene whether it is being asked to do this for humanitarian reasons or some other purpose. while the u.s. has proven capeling of toppling, its demonstrated it shouldn't be used for nation and state building efforts. if it didn't able to stabilize it should have no part in destabilizing them in the first place. one thing the u.s. can do to contribute to international stability is not to undermine it through unnecessary wars for regime change. neither should it indulge allies or complinets wishing to detablize rivals. i will suggest two other opportunities before turning things over to matt. the first is to minimize

tensions with the other major powers to reduce the chances of return to great power conflicts. one of the greatest dangers is the resumption of that kind of great power conflict that caused so much devastation and death in the previous century. armed conflict between great powers would u not only be harmful but it also has within it the potential of nuclear war. to reduce the chances of this the u.s. ought to avoid pursuing premature policy of containment directed at any other major power and should focus on those aspects of their relationships, whether it's potential for better ties and cooperation of these states. another possibility is to invest more resources and attention into efforts to mediate and encourage conflicts. that might international arbitration or mediation for

conflicts or crises that have the potential to turn violent. in order to be perceived, the u.s. can appeals for military intervention frequently successful because they seek to provide -- same to provide an immediate solution. is all the more reason why a foreign policy that seeks to find nonmilitary solutions should seek to find an effort to defuse crises before they get to open wall for -- warfare. the u.s. should get out of the business of regime change, arming insurgents, or encouraging popular uprisings. the u.s.